Ralston has served in the military since 1965. He has served in operational command at squadron, wing, numbered air force and major command, as well as various staff and management positions at every level of the United States Air Force.

Bill Clinton writes in his memoirs My Life that Ralston was used to resolve a potentially sticky situation with Pakistan in which the US would use Pakistani airspace to strike at the Al-Qaeda organization meeting in Afghanistan following the US Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. There was US concern that Pakistan's intelligence services would tip off the targets or even worse assume the missiles over Pakistan came from India, potentially triggering a nuclear conflict on the Indian sub-continent. As Clinton writes on page 799 of My Life, "we decided to send the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joe Ralston, to have dinner with the top Pakistani military commander at the time the attacks were scheduled. Ralston would tell him (the Pakistani general) what was happening a few minutes before our missiles invaded Pakistani airspace, too late to alert the Taliban or Al-Qaeda, but in time to avoid having them shot down or sparking a counterattack on India."

In September 2006, he was assigned as Special Envoy for Countering the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) by the President of the United States George W. Bush.[1] The PKK is a Kurdish separatist group designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Turkey and the European Union.

Ralston was one of at least three retired four-star generals asked by Bush administration to oversee both wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Ralston and the two other generals, however, all declined this position.[2]

In 1997, at the retirement of John M. Shalikashvili, the then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Ralston was the top candidate to succeed him to the highest position in the military. A scandal erupted when it became public that he had an adulterous affair with a CIA employee during the 1980s. Ralston claimed this was while he and his wife Linda were separated.[4]

Defense Secretary William Cohen backed Ralston despite the controversy, declaring that Ralston's secret, adulterous relationship 13 years ago wouldn't "automatically disqualify" him from becoming the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.[5] There were allegations of double standards, as 1st Lt Kelly Flinn was forced out of the Air Force following after being charged with adultery a month prior.

Ralston withdrew his name from consideration[6] and remained Vice Chairman until 2000, when he was appointed Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, in which function he served from 2000 to 2003, taking over from U.S. Army general Wesley Clark. In this capacity, he was the highest-ranking officer in NATO. He retired on March 1, 2003.

Ralston holds various senior positions in defense and security-related corporations, simultaneously with his diplomatic role as "anti PKK coordinator". Critics allege Ralston is using his influence as special envoy to secure large governmental weapons contracts for the corporations he has directorship over. The Boston Globe described him as "an arms merchant in diplomat's clothing."[7]

On 26 October 2006, the Kurdish National Congress of North America issued a press release demanding “the immediate resignation” of General Joseph Ralston:[8]

"Ralston’s appointment came at a time when Turkey was finalizing the sale of 30 new Lockheed MartinF-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft (approx. $3 billion) and as Turkey was due to make a decision on the $10 billion purchase of the new Lockheed Martin F-35 JSF aircraft. The sale for the F-16’s was approved by the United States Congress in mid-October and Turkey’s decision in favor of the F-35 JSF was announced on October 25, shortly after Ralston’s recent stay in Ankara, ostensibly to counter the PKK."

Since the PKK insurgency began in 1983, 30,000 people have died and over 3,000 Kurdish villages have been destroyed, often by U.S. supplied planes.[9] Critics are concerned that hard line anti-PKK policies influenced by conflicting interests would compromise the prospects for longterm solution to the Kurdish-Turkish issue.[10]

“The PKK had to stop fighting anyway because of the winter, but the PKK, backed by Iraqi Kurds, are acting as if this were a major political decision, not a move dictated by a practical necessity. Of course, we don’t take it seriously.”

June 1984 - February 1986, Special Assistant for low observables technology, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Research, Development and Acquisition, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.